


Glowing Silver Star

by RandyPandy



Series: Deep in the Realms [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Character Study, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Nohr | Conquest Route, Sakura!Rhajat, Tharja and Rhajat are the same person, Virion!Noire, With something Revelation-esque afterwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23602069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyPandy/pseuds/RandyPandy
Summary: To survive, she had to hide the fact that she was royalty. She had to hide her true nature. It was all that she could do. She had to hide Rhajat, Princess of Hoshido, and show Tharja, feared ex-Grimleal Dark Mage, to the world, until it was safe to bring Rhajat back out.
Relationships: Sakura/Tsukuyomi | Hayato, Sallya | Tharja/Viaur | Virion
Series: Deep in the Realms [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709014
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21





	Glowing Silver Star

**Author's Note:**

> This ties into [Love and Be Silent](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23457967) but it is not necessary to have read it before reading this one.
> 
> It’s been awhile since I thoroughly studied Rhajat and Tharja, and while I dug through Supports and such, there might be a couple of inaccuracies. That, and I played down her obsession with Robin a bit.

This Deeprealm was supposed to be safe.

Rhajat blankly stared at the burning ruin that was her home. The servants that had been taking care of her were all dead, burned to ashes after ensuring that she had made it out safely.

Even worse, she couldn't go to any of the neighbors for help; the _entire_ village had been obliterated. Her dearest friend, who had been a magical prodigy like her, was missing as well. Somehow, whoever had done this had completely missed her presence, but then again…

 _“Keep this on your person at all times, Rhajat,”_ she remembered her mother saying, handing her a small silver star charm on a necklace. _“It’s a Hoshidan talisman of protection.”_

The talisman pulsed against her skin, underneath her clothes, and she knew that it had protected her, both from the destruction and from the people that would have hurt her.

She knew that she couldn't stay here. With the _months_ that passed before her parents visited (she was practically their age by now!), if she stayed here to wait for them, she would slowly die without any food or shelter.

And so she packed up what little food and clothing she could find, and made her way towards the closest city – some city in a place called Plegia.

Mentally, she apologized to her parents – Princess Sakura, youngest princess of Hoshido, and Hayato, adopted son of the Wind Tribe’s chieftain.

They would never know what happened to her.

* * *

Rhajat stared at her hair in the mirror, the bright pink locks obvious against her pale skin and dark clothing.

Pink was not a very common hair color in Plegia, where the majority of people had black, white, or reddish-brown hair (so why pink didn't happen was a mystery to her, but she wasn't going to go into that). With the color that her hair was, she stood out like a sore thumb, and that would cause problems if she did something and people took an interest in her. All they would have to do is identify her by her hair color and she would be in trouble.

She threaded her fingers through it. The last thing that she wanted to do was give up her mother's hair, and make it even harder for her parents to find her if they ever came back, but...

Murmuring a spell, Rhajat watched as her hair dulled and then darkened into a deep black; there was still a purplish hue, but there wasn't anything that she could do about that. Plegia wasn't forgiving; if she held onto sentimentality, she would be killed.

Taking a deep breath, she locked the memories of her mother and father away, and 'Tharja' turned around to go find her guardians.

They’d taken her in after they’d found her wandering about, instantly able to detect her magical prowess. Rhajat had been in survival mode at the time, and had accepted their care, despite knowing that they were _not_ the kindest people. It would give her access to magic, at least, and she would build her talents until she was able to find a way out.

And she’d been right; while on her own, she’d had the time to understand Plegia’s worship of their god, Grima, led by the Grimleal, and really, some of the teachings… they were _very_ different from what her parents had taught her. Had she had the chance, she would have fled to Valm or even Ylisse, but war was happening, and it just wouldn’t be possible.

To survive, she had to hide the fact that she was royalty. She had to hide her true nature. It was all that she could do. She had to hide Rhajat, Princess of Hoshido, and show Tharja, feared ex-Grimleal Dark Mage, to the world, until it was safe to bring Rhajat back out.

* * *

Years later, mentally scarred from how her life had turned out, forcibly conscripted into fighting for Gangrel’s army, she finally got her chance.

Even after Chrom had shown her mercy and had allowed her to join the Shepherds (thank the gods; she knew that her mom and dad would've been disappointed had they discovered the path she’d taken), she'd tried to keep her distance from all of them. She wasn't _used_ to having friends, and when she'd been treated as a tool by the people that were supposed to take care of her... well, what was she supposed to think?!

Some of them still pestered her anyways.

The first was Nowi, the Manakete that had been in the desert, whom she’d borrowed a few scales from. When Nowi had approached her, asking whether Tharja would be able to cast a spell to find her parents, she had taken pity on the young dragon. She knew what it was like, wondering where her parents were, wondering whether they worried about her, and so she had acquiesced to the request.

Unfortunately, Nowi's parents were dead for sure, and she hadn't been sure how to tell the girl, instead cryptically telling her that her parents were "somewhere really far away". She still wasn't sure whether Nowi had managed to figure it out despite her dancing around the matter; she really hoped that Nowi had taken her words at face value.

The next was Ricken, a teen with a thirst to prove himself as a true Shepherd, and a prodigy in Wind magic. Tharja avoided him at first -- he reminded her _too much_ of her father, and it _hurt_ to look at him. He even had brown hair like him! But Ricken's determination to learn Dark Magic had kept him approaching her, and so she'd reluctantly agreed to help him try out a few curses.

 _'Just one,'_ she told herself. _'One curse, and he'll leave me alone.'_

But even after that, she still found herself talking to Ricken and teaching him 'good' curses. Every time Ricken beamed up at her upon a successful cast, Tharja found herself thinking of her father and smiling back at him.

Robin… she fascinated her. The woman was a _wellspring_ of magic, and there was something very strange about her that attracted Tharja to her. In fact, Tharja spent so much time chasing after Robin and learning everything about her, determined to learn just what made her special and such a magical prodigy.

Henry was her fault. _She_ had been the one that had approached _him_ , fascinated by the story of the powerful Plegian mage surrounded by crows (both of her parents were magical prodigies, it wasn’t unusual for her to be attracted to the same thing; Robin qualified too!). And then Gregor. Then Kellam. Lon’qu. Libra. Gaius. Virion. She found herself learning more and more about everyone that was in the army. She decided that these were the kind of people that Rhajat would really like, even if Tharja didn’t.

Slowly, reluctantly, Tharja started releasing Rhajat from her shell – only for Rhajat to sometimes get scared and retreat. This would only cause Tharja to lash out.

But Rhajat would come out for longer periods of time, and she didn’t mind at all.

* * *

For someone that had a tendency to sneak up on her (which Tharja admitted was no small feat), Kellam could be deeply introspective sometimes. Somehow, he had gotten her thinking about her parents.

"I come from a family of powerful mages." That much was true, and like everyone else, Kellam naturally misinterpreted it as her foster family in Plegia. That was fine; it wasn’t as if she _wanted_ to go into the details of who her family was, and there were _plenty_ of times where she had outright _lied_ about her childhood.

But she'd been thinking about her _true_ family. Her mother Sakura, a sweet and gentle young woman and an unparalleled healer, and her father Hayato, a rash, but kind-hearted young man, who was as powerful as Ricken when it came to Wind magic. "They can usually take care of themselves. But times like these... Well, who knows?"

What if the war against Nohr killed them?

The thought had kept her up at night for many, many years since they had first left her here, and it still would.

* * *

Sometimes, Tharja really wondered about herself and the kind of person that she was. It was at times like these that the mask of 'Tharja', the terrifying ex-Grimleal from Plegia, would fall and 'Rhajat', the princess of Hoshido that just wanted to help people, came forth.

Virion might be a fool (and a bit of a coward, but she could see his point of view), but she was more foolish than him.

She fell in love with him, after all, and with how selfless he had become after joining the Shepherds (though she'd heard that he had been more of a coward before them). The selflessness reminded her so much of her mother, and his words… even if Virion didn’t understand completely what he had seen, he had seen past the mask of Tharja, the dark mage that cursed people for fun, and had found Rhajat, a girl that had done dark things but just wanted to help.

Yes, she would stay with Virion (and possibly hex him if he flirted with anyone else).

...And maybe she could kick his people into gear and remind them that yes, they _should_ love her husband. Rosanne was a pleasant place to live, after all, and just as she had grown from being with the Shepherds, so had he.

* * *

Her future daughter, Noire, was a very sickly child, apparently, and completely lacking in self-confidence.

If Tharja had to tell Noire that she cast curses on her, constantly, in order to ensure that she had _some_ self-confidence left in her and wouldn’t assume that she couldn’t do anything due to physical weakness, then so be it. She could stand being the harsh mother that her daughter had described in the future, no matter how much it hurt. She… wasn’t the best person, she knew that.

How could future-Tharja have treated her own child like this? Would she understand just how much a child _needed_ a loving family? Or was it Rhajat that truly loved Noire and wanted to be the best mother that she could be for her, but it was Tharja that kept tugging her back, afraid of letting her get too close?

When Noire had first mentioned the talisman that future-Tharja had given her, Tharja had snatched it and taken a look at it – and had found herself staring at the silver star identical to the one that she wore underneath her clothes. Noire thought that it was a talisman to help her be more confident and aggressive.

After teasing her with it a little bit and handing it back to her, Tharja knew the truth. She wouldn’t put it past herself to have ensured her child’s survival even if said child didn’t understand. This was what parenthood was like.

Speaking of Noire…

Tharja found the girl staring at her, and raised her eyebrow. Usually, this wasn’t the kind of thing that happened. A simple dispel spell had already removed the curse that she had accidentally cast on the two of them (it truly had been an accident! At least all it had done was turn their hair into flowers instead of something more deadly, even if it had been terribly itchy for a few minutes).

“Mother…” Noire was hesitant at first. “Did you put a spell on your hair?”

“Hm?” She tried not to sound annoyed. What was the girl talking about?

“It’s… pink?”

Tharja stilled, and Noire took a step back out of nervousness. But instead, Tharja grabbed a lock of her hair and held it out in front of her, staring at the vivid pink shade that was her natural hair color. Why had the spell worn off?

…Oh right, the dispel magic. She’d increased the range since her curse had affected _them_ both. Whoops. She had had black hair for so long that she had forgotten that it was a spell she’d used to blend in.

But… well, she wasn’t in Plegia anymore. Black hair wasn’t something that she _needed_. And it wasn’t as if the Ylisseans didn’t have stranger colors; Chrom had blue hair, and Cordelia’s was red – _bright_ red, it reminded her of her aunt’s, really. And Olivia had pastel _pink_ hair herself!

(Nowi and Tiki had green hair, but they were dragons so they didn’t count.)

“I thought it was time for a change,” Tharja said with a shrug. “Does it suit me?”

Noire quickly nodded, her own light blue hair bouncing a little. Thank the gods that Noire hadn’t inherited her natural pink hair, but had Virion’s bluish-grey instead. She wasn’t sure whether she would have been able to handle answering where the color had come from.

* * *

Things happened far too quickly.

While Tharja and Virion had been visiting Ylisstol for a Shepherds’ reunion, Inigo, Severa, and Owain came home with some _strangers_ , and she remembered Severa and Cordelia having a blowup over it. Something about the two of them being Hoshidan, and Cordelia being Caeldori. Inigo and Owain had been scarce, instead having brought the strangers to the Ylisstol palace.

(Cordelia was her _cousin_ Caeldori? Her Aunt Hinoka and Uncle Subaki’s child? She hadn’t been completely alone in this world after all? She would have liked to figure that out before! She definitely would have gone for Ylisse as a child in that case! And she definitely would have tried to get to know Cordelia more!)

Later, she was interrupted by Noire (and little Noire) telling her that she had visitors that claimed to know her. She bit back her snap at her daughters, and instead went to see what foolish people had decided to come visit her.

At the door, she saw a flash of pink hair, identical in shade to hers, and she… she… she _knew_.

After all these years, they’d finally found each other.

* * *

She really _was_ older than her parents now.

Neither Hayato nor Sakura had gained much height since the last time that she had seen them, and how she had become so much taller than them was a mystery (then again, her uncle Ryoma had been quite tall – where _was_ he, anyways?). They were clearly much older, but Rhajat had been alive much longer than they had.

And yet…

The joyous spark that had been in her mother’s eyes all throughout her childhood was gone and she wielded the bow on her back as if it was an extension of herself instead of the festal that she used to have. Her father, who had always had a youthful arrogance in his own eyes and had always insisted that he was older than he appeared, looked much more mature and reserved.

What had happened? What had made her sweet, gentle, shy mother take up arms instead of healing? What had matured her hotheaded, brash father so that he thought before he reacted?

It was so unlike Sakura and Hayato that Rhajat found herself staring at them as her parents explained the story of what had happened. Of the war against Nohr. Of how that hadn’t been the end, of how they had had to find an invisible kingdom that only three living people not even native to their world knew even existed.

…Whoever had done this to her family needed to be _cursed_ —

No, no.

She’d promised both Noire and Virion that she would break that habit (and from the way her parents were talking, the ones behind it were dead anyways… but maybe she could cast a small curse on the Nohrian royal family. And on Inigo, Severa, and Owain for causing her parents so much grief, but if it hadn’t been for them, she wouldn’t have found her parents, so _maybe_ she could forgive them. Maybe).

Instead of saying anything out loud, she indulged in something that she hadn’t done in _years_ , and hugged her parents against her.

* * *

“I don’t want Hoshido’s throne,” Rhajat stated flatly to her parents. “If Noire wants to go to Hoshido with you, I will not complain… but I’m sorry, mother, father; you don’t want someone like me on the throne.”

“Darling… there’s nothing that you could do that would make us think that,” Sakura said, her voice sad as she considered her daughter.

Her parents didn’t even know the half of it. She thought of her years as a Grimleal devotee – most Plegians worshipped Grima, of course, but her foster family had been _fanatics_ ; she’d only stayed with them because they’d been impressed by her magical abilities.

Though, given what had happened to her old friend – Aversa – she was relieved that was _all_ that had happened to her. If she’d been found that day… her parents might have never seen her again.

“I’m so sorry…” Sakura said again, looking down at her feet. “You must have been so lonely without us for so long…”

Rhajat shook her head. “I’m fine, mother. I… I have Virion. I have my daughters. I have friends.”

Yes… she really did have friends, didn’t she? She had tried not to let too many people in, but slowly, they had gotten inside of her heart. Not just Virion and Noire, but Nowi, and Ricken, and Henry, and Chrom, and Robin ( _especially_ Robin, but as fascinating as she was, she knew that she was unattainable because her heart belonged to someone else, and while that had annoyed her at first, she found that she was quite happy with Virion).

There was still one question on her mind.

“How did you know where I was?” she asked. “I don’t even live here normally, since Virion is the Duke of Rosanne.”

Hayato frowned. “When we came here and noticed that the village had been destroyed and the bodies of the servants… we thought you were dead.” He sounded strained, and exhausted, and… that had to have been horrible. Even when she’d met future Noire, she’d pretended to be standoffish, but had immediately warmed to the girl, her _daughter_.

“So when we finally came here, it was to see Caeldori. But then your daughter spotted us, and exclaimed that Sakura looked just like her mother.”

Sakura giggled. “We asked a few more questions to Noire and everyone else, and the more we learned, the more we were able to piece together that you were really her!”

Rhajat would really have to thank Noire later.

She grinned at her parents – a genuine smile, not that smirk that she tended to wear when she hexed someone. “I’m glad. I had no idea how I was going to find you again.”

“We’re glad too,” Sakura smiled, though it was sad and haunted. “We thought we had lost everything… Mother, Ryoma, Takumi… so many people… I’m so relieved that we hadn’t lost you too, Rhajat.”

Rhajat felt something in her throat.

“…I’m glad too.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Hayato x Sakura:** Another OTP in Birthright only for me. These two are not only super adorable together, but them together doesn’t creep me out so much given how close they are in age. Plus, Sakura’s final Conquest class is Priestess where she wields a bow, and with Rhajat/Tharja being a magical prodigy (with archer as a possible reclass) and Noire being an archer, I felt like, of the surviving women, she fit as the mother (plus, princess!). And it’s possible that they did meet – we don’t know what happened after Corrin defeated Hayato but before they fought Sakura in Conquest.
> 
>  **Virion x Tharja:** I struggled for a long time to debate which spouse to give to Tharja. I tried to avoid anyone that was potentially toxic (i.e., where she didn’t prioritize Robin fanatically over them), which ruled out a lot of supports, ruled out a couple more based off of who other characters would’ve married (i.e., ruled out Stahl because Cordelia married him), ruled out Gaius because as funny as it would be, it'd be hard to write his part, and then finally went with Virion – this gives a lead-in for Noire to be an archer, and has Tharja relearn that some people really CAN see the true person deep down.
> 
>  **Rhajat’s Paralogue:** Never happened because her parents weren't able to visit often enough to move her to a more secluded area before the village was destroyed or make her too interested in Faceless.
> 
>  **Noire:** Technically, she’s eligible for the throne – both of them are. Tharja’s fine with older!Noire going off and doing just that, because it would probably be a more supportive environment, and younger!Noire could become Virion’s heir. As for who I ship her with, I normally ship her with Yarne, but couldn't figure out a way to squeeze that into the fic.


End file.
